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In Washington, President Barack Obama requested formal authorization from Congress to use military force against ISIS. In Arizona, the family of Kayla Mueller confirmed that the young aid worker, who had been kidnapped by ISIS, was dead. New details about her captivity continue to emerge.

Also in Washington, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center told lawmakers about an alarming number of foreign fighters joining the terror group.

Here's a rundown of the latest developments regarding ISIS:

A top U.S. counterterrorism official is warning that the number of foreign fighters joining ISIS' ranks is growing at an alarming rate.

Nicholas Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said more than 20,000 fighters from more than 90 countries have traveled to the ISIS battlefield, according to testimony CNN obtained in advance of a House Homeland Security Committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Foreign fighters are traveling in greater numbers to Syria now than the number who went to the conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia in the past two decades, he said.

Of those fighters, an estimated 3,400 are believed to have come from Western countries, including more than 150 from the United States, officials say.

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President Barack Obama made it official. On Wednesday, he asked Congress to formally authorize the use of military force in the war against ISIS.

The President declared congressional passage of the measure makes the U.S. "strongest" in the fight, and that "ISIL is going to lose."

"Now, make no mistake, this is a difficult mission and it will remain difficult for some time," he said during an afternoon news conference.

He said the bill includes authority for a "systemic and sustained campaign of airstrikes," support and training for forces on the ground and humanitarian assistance. Obama made it clear, however, that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF, does not call for the deployment of ground troops in Iraq or Syria.

"I am convinced that the U.S. should not get back into another ground war in the Middle East -- it's not in our national security interest and not necessary for us to defeat ISIL," he said.

It's the first time in 13 years that a U.S. president has sought this kind of authorization.

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This week, the family of American hostage Kayla Mueller confirmed that she was dead. The family had kept news of her capture out of the media, and had been in contact with ISIS for some time, trying to win her release. ISIS sent the family a private message over the weekend with information about her death.

Now, U.S. intelligence and government officials say Mueller possibly was paired with a male ISIS fighter during her captivity.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, cited unspecified intelligence gleaned about the case. A U.S. intelligence official said it was unclear whether Mueller was coerced, sold or forced into the pairing.

Intelligence suggests Mueller may have been given to an ISIS fighter as a sort of bride, one U.S. government official said.

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Speaking about the death of Mueller, Obama stood by his position not to pay ransom for hostages, even if that means going against a family's wishes.

"We will do everything we can short of providing an incentive for future Americans to be caught," Obama said.

The United States made a risky, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to rescue Mueller from ISIS custody before her death, Obama said.
"I deployed an entire operation -- at significant risk -- to rescue not only her, but the other individuals who had been held, and probably missed them by a day or two," Obama told Buzzfeed News' Ben Smith in an interview. He said the U.S. always devotes "enormous resources to freeing captives or hostages anywhere in the world."

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ISIS' most high-profile victims have come from number of nations and backgrounds. One thing that unites them is that they were on a mission in Syria or Iraq -- to distribute aid, provide medical care, report on the situation, or to fight militarily.

CNN's Jethro Mullen profiles some of the victims killed by ISIS.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is no friend of the United States, but he says he gets updates on the airstrikes that the U.S.-led coalition carries out in his war-torn country.

The Americans do not provide him with information, but al-Assad told the BBC that he gets some details from third parties such as Iraq.

"Sometimes, they convey a message, a general message, but there's nothing tactical," he told the BBC. "There is no dialogue. There's, let's say, information, but not dialogue."

Several Western countries have clamored for al-Assad to step down since 2011, when peaceful protests against his regime led to a violent government crackdown and, subsequently, a full-on civil war.

But now, U.S. allies and the Syrian regime have a common enemy: ISIS, which is trying to solidify an Islamic state across swaths of Iraq and Syria.

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This collection of the latest developments is drawn from reporting and writing from across CNN's platforms

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